Johnson's two goals lead Portland past the Dynamo

In a cold driving rain, the road woes continued for Houston Dynamo. Two Ryan Johnson second half goals led the Portland Timbers past the Dynamo 2-0 on Saturday night at Portland’s Jeld-Wen Field.
With the absence of striker Will Bruin and midfielder Oscar Boniek-Garcia, the Dynamo were without two key players and the play showed as the Timbers controlled possession (64%), the flow of the game and ultimately the final score.
The Dynamo were not without their opportunities outshooting Portland 5:1 in the first half but Timbers keeper Donovan Ricketts came up big time and again. None of the saves were bigger then the diving stop Ricketts made in the 34’ on a Brad Davis shot from inside the box.
After playing to a scoreless draw in the opening 45 minutes of play, the Timbers came out aggressively and took the play to the Dynamo and it paid off.
In the 55’, Portland’s Diego Chara broke free on the wing and fed a perfect cross to Ryan Johnson who finished it for a 1-0 lead. It was the first lead of the 2013 season for the Timbers.
Minutes later Robby Wallace hit the crossbar and the post as Portland continues to push.
Not even the substitutions of (Warren)Creavalle for (Adam) Moffat, (Brian) Ching for (Cam) Weaver stem the tide as Johnson cashed in again in the 73’.
The win was Portland’s first of the season against three draws and a loss.
Houston fell to 3-2-0 as they missed an opportunity to tie Montreal for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Dynamo return home Sunday April 14th for a 4:00p.m. CDT match against the Chicago Fire.